


on the eve of battle

by Lefaym



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst, M/M, Marriage, reference to offscreen major character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-20
Updated: 2016-02-20
Packaged: 2018-05-22 00:20:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6063649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lefaym/pseuds/Lefaym
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They are going to lose. There's only one thing left that they can do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	on the eve of battle

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the following TFA kink meme prompt: http://tfa-kink.dreamwidth.org/2821.html?thread=4737541#cmt4737541
> 
> _The Big Final Battle is approaching, and things look grim for the Resistance._
> 
> _Finn and Poe, like so many others, get married on the eve of battle -- but they aren't thinking about forever or the future; they believe that they will probably die tomorrow._
> 
> My thanks also to fera_festiva, who read this over for me, and also provided inspiration via our many discussions of Finn/Poe over the last few weeks.

They were going to lose. This was a fact, and Finn accepted it. They were outnumbered and weary. They had already lost too many who couldn’t be replaced. Every day, another planet fell in with the First Order; better that than risk the lives of civilian citizens. The sun was setting over the grassy plains of Cophrigin V, and Finn knew that by the time it touched the same horizon again, he would be dead and so would the Resistance.

Poe drew a long, shuddering breath beside him. “So this is how it ends,” he said. BB-8 chirped mournfully beside him and bumped gently against his leg.

Once, Finn would’ve suggested that they run. The words still formed inside his head: _There’s no point in fighting this battle. We should just go._ Many of their number had already done so, and Finn didn’t blame them.

But Poe wouldn’t do that, and now, after everything, Finn wouldn’t either.

So instead of suggesting they run, Finn turned to Poe and said the most ridiculous, impossible thing he could think of:

“Marry me.”

Poe sat up straighter. “What’d you just say?”

“Marry me.” 

And it really was the most ridiculous thing Finn had ever said, because he hadn’t even known that marriage was even a _thing_ until a couple of standard years ago, and he and Poe had agreed anyway that it didn’t matter, because no ceremony could guarantee things like _forever_ , and there was a reason that a lot of systems had done away with the concept altogether under the New Republic. 

But then again, it also made more sense than anything Finn had ever said too, because _forever_ didn’t really matter when your remaining lifespan could be measured in hours. And because Poe was suddenly staring at him with a look that said, _Fuck those First Order bastards, we can still have this._

“Yeah, alright,” said Poe, with a small half-smile, as though he was agreeing to a quick rendezvous in the barracks.

BB-8 let loose with a series of small, staccato beeps followed by a gentle note that managed to be joyful and sad all at once.

* * *

They weren’t the only ones who’d decided to do this. In the end, five couples and two triads stood together in the mess hall, while Admiral Ackbar officiated.

General Organa stood with the Admiral, but she didn’t speak; some light had gone out in her when Skywalker had fallen last year. Finn had expected that Rey would take her place at the front too, but instead she stood beside Finn and Poe, and tied the _shala_ twine around their wrists when Ackbar said the word.

BB-8 gave a long slow whistle, and Rey bent down to scratch his battered metal head as Ackbar pronounced the ceremony complete.

Rey kissed both of them afterwards. Poe winked at her, and Finn wished for a moment that she hadn’t chosen the Jedi path; that her hands could be bound with theirs, but that wasn’t to be. She had her calling, and they had theirs.

She would fall tomorrow, with the rest of them. Rey and the General would face the Knights of Ren, two against dozens. The General had explained it to Finn and Poe a few hours ago, in a secret briefing: there was no possibility for survival, but there was a chance for the future. If they were lucky, if Poe’s X-Wing squadrons and Finn’s foot-troopers could hold out long enough, Rey and General Organa might be able to do _something_ , and that something would mean that on some distant day, maybe generations from now, there would be hope.

Finn wasn’t sure he believed it. He thought maybe it was a story to help them do what they needed to do. That was okay. Getting married was one of those stories too.

Poe’s hand tightened around his. “I dunno about you,” he said, “but I’m itching to get out of here all of a sudden.” Some of the other newlyweds had already begun to leave.

“Yeah,” said Finn, through a surprisingly hoarse throat. “Yeah, I agree.”

* * *

Poe sent BB-8 off to assist the ground crew, but there was no privacy to be had indoors; every scrap of space was given over to preparation for the coming battle. 

They ended up outside, on a rough blanket taken from the barracks.

Finn had seen a few romantic holovids since he’d been with the Resistance, and he knew that wedding nights were supposed to be long and slow, filled with gentle lovemaking. But they only had an hour’s leave for this, and besides, neither of them wanted gentle and slow.

Poe’s mouth was hard and hot on his, and Finn had learned every trick there was to know about how to make Poe feel good. They pressed together, skin to skin, a tangle of mouths and hands and legs, fast enough, hard enough to block out everything else. For several long, blissful minutes, there _was_ nothing else.

They clung together, afterwards. Finn thought he might have bruises where Poe gripped his arms. If he lived long enough for bruises to form.

Their hour was almost done. “We should…” said Finn, but he couldn’t quite finish.

Poe gave a shaky laugh against Finn’s chest. “Yeah,” he said. “Gotta get ready to take the First Order down with us.”

“Yeah,” Finn agreed. “We’ll do that.”

Tomorrow, Poe would be blown into stardust, and Finn would be cut down by men he’d once called brothers. And Rey… well, Finn understood enough of how the Force worked now to know that she’d prefer death to the alternative, when she fell to Kylo Ren.

They all had the stories they told themselves, to make it easier: the rest of our lives at each other’s side; we’ll take them down with us; one last, hidden hope for the galaxy.

“I love you,” said Finn. That one, at least, was true.


End file.
